UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

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Tuck uses Advanced Mathematics in 7-5 Win over Gamblers

Game 2 of the season saw a ton of goals, some shoddy defense and some leaky goaltending, but after a 2 year wait, it was great to be back on the ice!

There is 66 games in the history books between these two storied franchises, with the Gamblers taking 36 wins(55%), but Tuck has wiped the slate clean, starting with a completely new roster for the first time since 2005.  

The goals came early and often in this won as it did seam both teams were still trying to catch up to the pace and get their legs under them.  We had multiple players set the tone with fanstic offensive output.  Leading the way were 5 point nights from Tuck's Stefan Soucy and the LUmberjack's Ben Perron.  Tuck's Luke Stickel had a goal and 3 helpers, Sam Gray had a goal and two assists and 4 other players had multi-point nights.  

Two goals in the first two minutes had this one tied at one goal a piece.  The Gamblers struck frist on a great cross-ice breakout pass from Alex Dodds to Ben Perron in the neutral zone.  Perron stormed up the near side 1v1 with a Tuck defender but Dodd's did all the work as he beat his man to create a 2on1.  Perron hit Dodd's coming through the slot and Dodd's made a quick move to his backhand sliding the puck under the Tuck goaltender.

Tuck immediately responded by winning the next faceoff, going D to D, with Stefan Soucy working it into the zone then back Jon Carkeek at the point for a quick low shot on Gambler's goaltend Luke "The Nuke' McCormick.  McCormick casually steered the shot to the side, where he was clearly unaware that Sam Gray was standing.  Gray casually put the puck into the back of the net for 1-1.  The rest of the period was tilting heavily towards the Gambler's end with McCormick needing to make 13 saves.  

A Cameron O'Brien tripping call at 5:10 set up Tuck's 2nd goal.  As Tuck moved the puck around using advanced geometry and trigonometry, it was finally Luke Stickel who came out of the corner with the puck, using deductive reasoning and rational to determine that he could stickhandle through a trio of Gambler's defenders and launch a hard low shot on net that McCormick yet again steered to a Tuck player, this time Soucy.  Soucy quickly ran a business model relating weight of puck and distance net to a recent ROI and Cost of Goods methodology to beat McCormick for the 2-1 lead.

END OF THE FIRST: Tuck 2 - Gamblers 1.  SHOTS: Tuck 13 - Gamblers 6

Five goals were scored in the second period on 21 shots.  Tuck launched out of the gates with a quick pair in the first 6 minutes behind goals from Aiden "Rocky" Balboni and Luke "The Stick" Stickel's second goal.  Balboni's came on a beautiful 2on1 with Ryan Cassidy, who slide the puck through a defender to Balboni going hard to the net.  Just 84 seconds later it was another defensive breakdown by the Gamblers that lead to another 2 on 1 and backdoor goal.  This time it Sam "May Day" Gray who pulled the goaltender and defender to him and found Stickel backdoor for a wide open net.

Just 29 seconds later Ray "Pay Day" Nolan took a blocked shot from his defensive partner Michael Marcinkowski and fired a shot/pass to Perron in the slot for a redirection through Brendan Kelley's wickets.  The game slowed down for about 5 minutes with both teams playing a little bit better defense until Tuck's Soucy came through again with 3:22 to play in the 2nd.  Sam Gray beat the Gambler's Cam O'Brien at the point and headed up ice 3 on 1 against the Gambler's Ray "Pay Day" Nolan.  Nolan aggressively angled him to the outside and Gray forgot his advanced algebra and whiffed on the puck, only to regain his composure and lay a perfect pass at a perfect 252.5 degree angle backwards to Soucy for another open netter.

30 seconds later Ben Perron picked up a puck and was heading in on a breakaway when Ryan "Butch" Cassidy tripped him from behind on a diving play at the puck.  Perron was awarded a penalty shot, took a serpentine route and beat Kelley with a low shot glove side.

END OF THE SECOND: Tuck 5 - Gamblers 3.  SHOTS: Tuck 27 - Gamblers 13

Tuck came out quick again in the 3rd period, carrying play and getting another Soucy goal from Stickel at 12:20.  Stickel started the play by blocking a Gambler's point shot and then hitting Soucy going up the far side.  The Gambler's defender left too big of a gap and let Soucy walk in on his forehand to the tops of the circles, firing a low snapper far side glove on McCormick.  The Gamblers responded at 8:45 with a Sean "Tom" Collins goal from who else but Ben Perron.   Perron turned a Tuck offensive turnover into possession and fed Collins with a nice backhand sauce to exit the defensive zone.  From there Collins did the rest, toe-dragging a Tuck defender and getting to the slot on his backhand before sliding a shot past Kelley.

With 7:40 to play Gambler's captain Will "The Thrill" Meyer's frustration boiled over as the defensive & physical play by Carkeek and Tuck in general got to him and Meyer and Carkeek both went to the box after a light tussle.  

Brendan "Killer" Kelley stopped an Alex Dodds breakaway with 7 minutes to play to keep this game scoreless before McCormick did the same on the far side just seconds later. Balboni carved through the neutral zone and beat a defender wide to cut across the slot, only to find McCormick's athleticism able to match his individual play.  McCormick's save immediately turned the other way as Ray Nolan picked up a puck in the neutral zone and found Collins heading into Tuck's zone.  Collins carried the puck deep and hit Perron for the hattrick in the slot to make this a 6-5 game.  

Perron's excellent night wasn't done as he completed took a tripping call 3 minutes later.  Unfortunately that penalty allowed Tuck to work the powerplay and saw Carkeek beat McCormick with a twisted wrister.

FINAL: TUCK 7 - Gamblers 5 - SHOTS: Tuck 39 - Gamblers 19

GAME NOTES:
Great start for Tuck who was clearly the better team.  Gamblers need to tighten up their defense as they must have given up 12-15 odd man rushes.  Gambler's legend / captain, Will Meyer, was kept pointless for possibly the first time in his UVHL Career.  He did get on the scoresheet though.  

The Gambler's Spencer "The Flyin' Hawaiian" Zaha was the oldest player on the ice. 

The Gamblers have a much needed BYE in week 2 while Tuck goes to war with the Lumberjacks.

 

Team:	Time:	Type:	Player:	Details:
1st PERIOD
GMB	12:20	Goal	Dodds, Alex(1)	Assist(s): Perron, Benjamin(1)
TCK	12:05	Goal	Gray, Sam(1)	Assist(s): Carkeek, Jonathan(1) Soucy, Stefan(1)
GMB	05:10	Penalty	O'Brien, Cameron(1)	2 minutes for Tripping
TCK	03:50	Goal	(PP)Soucy, Stefan(1)	Assist(s): Stickel, Luke(1) Clark, George(1)
2nd PERIOD
TCK	10:35	Goal	Balboni, Aidan(1)	Assist(s): Cassidy, Ryan(1) Bourque, James(1)
TCK	09:11	Goal	Stickel, Luke(1)	Assist(s): Gray, Sam(1) Soucy, Stefan(2)
GMB	08:32	Goal	Perron, Benjamin(1)	Assist(s): Nolan, raymond(1) Marcinkowski, Michael(1)
TCK	03:22	Goal	Gray, Sam(2)	Assist(s): Soucy, Stefan(3)
GMB	02:42	Goal	Perron, Benjamin(2)	Assist(s): none
TCK	02:42	Penalty	Cassidy, Ryan(1)	2 minutes for Tripping (Penalty Shot)
3rd PERIOD
TCK	12:20	Goal	Soucy, Stefan(2)	Assist(s): Stickel, Luke(2)
GMB	08:45	Goal	Collins, Sean(1)	Assist(s): Perron, Benjamin(2)
GMB	07:40	Penalty	Meyer, Will(1)	2 minutes for Roughing
TCK	07:40	Penalty	Carkeek, Jonathan(1)	2 minutes for Roughing
GMB	06:20	Goal	Perron, Benjamin(3)	Assist(s): Collins, Sean(1) Nolan, raymond(2)
GMB	03:30	Penalty	Perron, Benjamin(1)	2 minutes for Tripping
TCK	02:28	Goal	Carkeek, Jonathan(1)	Assist(s): Stickel, Luke(3) Gray, Sam(2)

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